


Biting the Bullet

by Kiyoko18



Category: DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Birdflash Week 2019, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry Wally, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Tumblr: Birdflash Network's DickWally Week, dickwally week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 11:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19376104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyoko18/pseuds/Kiyoko18
Summary: Dick was ecstatic and terrified.On one hand, he got to date Wally. Hold his hand, flirt with him, call him cute pet names, it was great. Dick swore he could have been dreaming.On the other hand, however, Dick realized that he, in fact, was not dreaming, and the unfortunate reality of this situation is that Wally agreed to fake-date him for the sake of a mission.





	Biting the Bullet

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of Birdflash Week. The prompt: Fake Dating.

        Dick was ecstatic and terrified.

        On one hand, he got to date Wally. Hold his hand, flirt with him, call him cute pet names, it was great. Dick swore he could have been dreaming.

        On the other hand, however, Dick realized that he, in fact, was not dreaming, and the unfortunate reality of this situation is that Wally agreed to fake-date him for the sake of a mission.

        He and Wally had to board a cruise that was being used as front for a drug smuggling ring. Their objective was to investigate during the cruise about where they’re storing the drugs, their method of smuggling, and areas of operation. The goal was to try and break the smuggling ring with this bust. There was just one problem.

         This was a couple’s cruise.

         With Superboy and Miss Martian off world, Artemis and Zatanna already on assignment, and most of the couples in the league already dealing with other crisis, Wally and Dick were the only ones who were close enough to pull it off.

          Dick prayed to whatever higher being was up there, thanking them that Wally said yes without hesitation. Even if he didn’t really get to date Wally, he hoped that this little venture would prompt him to confess to his best friend. Like, having a taste would urge him to pay for the whole meal.

          However, this was a mission and an important one. He needed to focus.

          But _God_ did their current situation make that difficult. Being at a couple’s cruise, the venue planned a bunch of couple’s activities over the course of the week. Which Dick and Wally had to attend, as to not look suspicious. So, Dick was forced (willing and eagerly acquiesced) to dance, go to wine tastings, have dinner dates, and have spa days with Wally. It was pure bliss.

          And weirdly enough, Wally must have been a better actor than Dick thought, because he was convincingly as enthralled in their fake relationship as Dick was. Wally held his hand, often initiated the physical contact, gave dopey lovesick looks at him when they were talking to other couples, even kissed him (not on the mouth *sigh*) on quite a few occasions. If Dick didn’t know any better, he’d honestly believe that Wally _actually_ liked him.

          However, once the were alone again, Wally pulled away, and it was all business again. Planning, cross-analyzing, and sharing evidence, with the occasional joke. Dick’s poor little heart couldn’t take it. He needed to confess to Wally soon. What happened after, happened after, but he really needed to get this off his chest, ‘cause it was starting to really fuck with him.

          Now, dancing with Wally during a couple’s dance night on the cruise was a pretty ideal scenario for confessing to him. Soft music, nice lighting, all in all good atmosphere and with him holding Wally as close as he is, Dick almost spilled the beans right there.

          However, he was interrupted by the voice of their main target, the one orchestrating the smuggling, one Valencio Gale, a 20-something smooth talker, in a white Armani suit, equipped with his accomplice/girlfriend/whatever, Rosa Solara.

            “Ahh, Mr. Grayson, I see that you and Mr. West are having a good time.”

            Dick forced a smile at being interrupted. “Ah, Mr. Gale, it’s nice to see you too. We are, how about you?”

            “Oh, I’m having a wonderful time. This evening has been lined with the finest luxury money can buy, and when you’re accompanied by the loveliest person in the room, who can help but be beguiled.” Valencio kissed Rosa’s hand.

            “Well, Mr. Gale, I’m sure Wally appreciates the complement, but I’m the only one allowed to call him lovely.” Dick said it in a joking manner, which earned a laugh from Gale and a convincing blush and smack on the shoulder from Wally.

             “Dick!”

             “Hah! Well played, Mr. Grayson. You’re a lucky man, Mr. West.”

              Dick struggled to control his blush as Wally rested his head on his shoulder and said, “Yeah, I am.”

              “Yes, well enjoy the rest of your evening. Unfortunately, Rosa and I have to turn in early.”

              Wally straightened back up again. “Aww, you aren’t going to enjoy the rest of the night. I heard they were bringing out dessert later.”

              Gale sighed, apologetically, “Ah, my apologies, Mr. West, but we have some… business we need to attend to before the night is out.”

              Gale winked and Rosa giggled. They were trying to give the impression that they were going to have sex, but Wally and Dick knew better. A deal was going down tonight. All the big names involved in this operation would be there. This was Wally and Dick’s opportunity.

               They waved Rosa and Valencio off and hung around the party for a few more moments before sneaking away inconspicuously. They ran to their rooms and changed into their super-suits. Then they snuck into the bowls of the ships to bust the goons.

* * *

 

               The plan was; observe the small group of criminals, gather all the details and evidence they needed, capture the goons and the people in charge, then call the coast guard to help arrest them. That was the plan, pretty standard procedure.

               That was not at all what happened. There were more people than anticipated, basically all of them were armed. And, oh yeah, those extra guys that were mentioned, some of them were out patrolling the area, covertly, trying to find anyone who could have been spying on the deal. Which is exactly what Dick and Wally were doing.

                Needless to say, despite their best efforts, they were spotted. While they managed to knock out the guards outside, their scuffle caused a commotion and summoned basically all the remaining guards. There were a lot, too many for Dick to handle, and while Wally was fast, the corridors they were fighting in were narrow, all the combatants were practically packed tight like sardines and Wally couldn’t get much momentum going.

              And to make matters worse, mid-fight, Dick saw one of the goons approaching a pretty cornered Wally, concealing what he knew to be an inhibitor collar. Dick’s breath froze in his chest and he tried to stop him. However, he left himself open and was promptly taken to the ground by three guys.

              “Nightwing!” Wally cried in alarm and started taking out as many opponents as possible to get to his friend. But he didn’t see the goon with the collar sneaking up behind him.

              “Flash! NO! BEHIND YOU!” Dick screamed, trying to alert Wally to the danger.

              This actually proves to be Wally’s undoing though. As soon as Wally turns around, several guys come up from behind, grab him, and start forcing him to his knees. Wally pulled and struggled, but, to Dick’s horror, the man with the collar leaped on his opening. He had some of his buddy’s grip Wally’s hair and hold his head back, leaving his neck exposed. When Wally still continued to struggle, the guy kneed him in the stomach, causing Wally to double over in pain.

              Dick’s blood ran cold, then it started to boil.

              “ _YOU SON OF A BITCH! LET HIM GO! DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM OR I’LL FUCKING TEAR YOU APART!_ ” Dick screamed, practically frothing at the mouth and thrashing against his captors.

               His death threats fell on deaf ears though, as, using Wally’s hair as leverage, they yanked his head up and forced the collar around his neck.

               After that the two of them were removed of any weapons, hoisted up and dragged, Dick still thrashing, into the room and forced to kneel in front of Valencio Gale, Rosa off to the side armed with a revolver trained on the two of them.

               “Well, well, well, Nightwing and Flash. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

               Wally, bless his soul, grit his teeth and managed to choke out, through a clearly pained smirk, “You can’t have a drug ring as big as this without someone catching on Gale. I’m honestly surprised half the Justice league doesn’t know by now. You guys aren’t that subtle.”

                Gale smiled at him and gave a low chuckle. “I’ve heard about how mouthy you are, Flash.” Suddenly he bashed the butt of his gun across Wally’s face. “You should probably not do that when you’re powers out of your reach.”

                “Flash!!” Dick cried out, trying with renewed vigor to break out of their grip as he saw Wally spit out blood onto the floor. All he received was a swift kick to the ribs for his trouble. Managing to reason with himself that brute force wasn’t going to get him out of this, he resolved go for the smoke pellets that he stored in secret compartments in his suit. Bats were nothing if not prepared.

                However, Dick’s outburst was noticed by Gale, who sauntered over to him and looked him in the eye. “Hmm, angry that a hit your little friend, Nightwing?”

                Dick glared at Gale with the fury of all nine circles of hell. He wanted to punch this asshole’s lights out. But before Dick could do anything a look of realization crossed over Gale’s face. “…Or is he more than that?”

                “Wha—!”

                Gale laughed, strolling back over to Rosa. “Oh, don’t play dumb with me, boy. I know the look of a protective lover anywhere.” He kissed Rosa on the cheek. “You find someone who completes you in basically every way, someone you have a long history with, someone who has been with you through everything. That is something you treasure with all your heart.” Rosa giggled and kissed Gale in return.

                Dick nervously glanced at Wally, something about the way Gale spoke make his gut feel uneasy. Wally was staring back and him, his expression implying that he was vaguely worried as well, but he also looked weirdly … hopeful?

                Dick didn’t have time to piece that together, he focused on trying to discreetly reach for his smoke bombs. He tried to keep Gale talking. “What’s it to you?”

                “Well, I am nothing if not a generous man, Nightwing. I would like to make you a deal.” Gale approached Wally, hoisting his head up by his hair again, and held a gun to his temple.  “I’ll give you a choice. Either I kill you first, sparing you from watching your beloved die, or I kill your boyfriend first, sparing him the pain of watching you die. After all, you wouldn’t want to force him to endure the pain of losing you, right?”

                 Dick’s heart pounded against his ribcage. He needed to think fast and buy a couple extra seconds so he could reach the pouch. A tentative plan came to his head, and he smirked. “Well, if that’s the case, you’re going to want to kill me first.”

                “NO!” Wally shouted, before yelping in pain as his hair was pulled again.

                Gale laughed, “You’d really want to subject your precious speedster, to losing the love of his life?”

                “No, but that’s be best option for you.”

                Gale stopped laughing, looking a tad confused. Dick continued, pouch almost within reach. “I don’t care what happens to me, but if your trigger finger so much as flinches, I will tear you limb-from-limb.”

               Gale masked it well, but what Dick said obviously got to him. He aimed the gun away from Wally and pointed it at him instead.

               “You talk big, boy, but I know better. Batman and most of the Justice League don’t kill. That’s the rule, correct?”

                Dick’s hand reached the pouch and pulled out three smoke bombs. “I’m not _Batman_.”

              Dick threw the bombs on the ground, filling the room with smoke, and startling the people holding him. He bucked them off and ran at Gale, punching him and knocking him out. He then did the same to Wally’s captors. He pulled out a lockpick and ripped the inhibitor collar off.

              “You ok?”

              Dick couldn’t see him clearly, but Wally looked at him relieved and replied, “Yeah, more or less.” Before taking off again and attacking the goons.

              Needless to say, by the time the smoke cleared, all the drug dealers were on the floor in hand cuffs. Dick patched into the nearest coastguard’s station and reported the contraband, while Wally flagged down the on-ship security. Once that was taken care of, they snuck back to their room to patch themselves up.

             Dick brought the first aid kit from the bathroom and approached Wally who was sitting on the bed.

             “Dick, seriously, I’ll be fine in like an hour, but you took a nasty kick to the ribs. I should—”

             “Ssssshhhut up.” Dick hushed and pulled out a cotton swab and alcohol. He gently wiped the cut on Wally’s cheek. “You holding up alright?”

               Wally rolled his eyes. “Yes, _mom_.”

               “…Ass.”

               “Dick.”

               Dick glared at Wally’s smirk. _Ha Ha, my name is Dick, which is also an insult, very funny._

               He finished patching up Wally pretty quickly, grateful that nothing looked to serious, but when he moved away Wally stopped him and grabbed the first aid kit. “Hold on, lift up your shirt so I can see your ribs.”

               Dick was about to protest, but the look in Wally’s eyes indicated that he was having none of it. So, Dick relented and took his shirt off. Wally poked and prodded Dick’s ribs looking to see if anything was broken.

               “…Gale seemed pretty convinced that we were a couple. Guess we must have developed a habit over the course of this week.”

               Dick blushed and looked away. He really did not want to confront his previous behavior now. He tried to laugh it off. “Yeah, maybe.”

               “You didn’t exactly deny anything though…”

               _SHIT. HE DIDN’T KNOW WALLY NOTICED THAT!_

               “…and there wasn’t really any reason for him to think Flash and Nightwing were dating.”

               Dick mind whirled with possible excuses he could make. _I was focusing on getting the smoke bombs. It was a way of distracting Gale. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time_.

              “And for a hot second there I thought you were actually going to take a bullet for me.”

              Dick’s mouth must have been listening to his heart instead of his head, because he ended up blurting out, “Dude, I’d always take a bullet for you.”

              Dick blushed a deep, deep red and Wally stared at him, eyes soft and coming to realization. Wally stopped prodding Dick’s ribs and brought his hands to rest on Dick’s shoulders. “Dick, is there something you’d like to tell me?”

              Dick tried to swallowed the knot in his throat. Trying to find a way to say _something_. “I…”

              Wally looked him in the eye, eyes pleading.  

              “I…like you… Wally.”

              Dick wanted to hit himself and Wally’s brow creased in concern.

              So, Dick tried again. “Wally, I…I love you. I’m _in_ love with you. I … I have been for a while.”

              There was a pause, and for one millisecond Dick thought everything was going to go to shit. Dick he was pleasantly surprised when Wally pulled him in for a deep kiss.

              The kiss was warm and, dare he say, electrifying. A pleasant buzz ran through his nervous system, making him feel so _alive_. He did his best to ignore the metallic tang of blood that he tasted from Wally’ mouth and focus on Wally’s lips moving against his, of Wally body pulling itself closer to his own. He wrapped his arms around Wally, holding him close even as they pulled away for air.

              Wally breathed heavily; face flushed. “Bout time, Boy Wonder, and all it took was the two of us nearly getting killed for you to confess.”

               Dick chuckled. “Hey, you know I respond best to high stake situations. If you cared about how long it took, you could have done it.”

              Wally laughed. “Oh, you know I’m no better.”

              They pulled themselves into another kiss, one that made them fall on the bed together.

* * *

 

              “So, did they finally confess yet, Harper?!” Artemis yelled into her earpiece.

              Will chuckled. “Oh, they did more than confess Crock. I’ll swing by later to fill you in.”

              “Jesus Christ, it was about time! I can’t wait to tell Zatanna!”

             “I’m sure the rest of the team will be happy to hear those two finally got their heads out of their asses. Let me know how it goes.”

             “Deal.”


End file.
